The Battle for the Republic

They’re coming for your livelihood. They’re coming to take your future. Dangerous. Invasive. Rapists. Criminals. MS-13. Animals. Vermin.

Your message was loud and clear. I heard you. We all heard you. Patrick Crusius heard you.

He heard the call to arms. He drove 9 hours. He found a city where the invasion had already taken place. He found a crowded space. He took action. Now El Paso knows, and Texas knows, and America knows that they won’t stand for the invasion any longer.

A lone wolf. A mentally unstable young man. A sad case.

Just like Dayton. Just like Poway. Just like Pittsburgh. Just like Oak Creek. Just like Atlanta. Just like Oklahoma City. Just like Birmingham. Just like Rosewood. Just like Tulsa.

These “lone wolf” attacks don’t have to be organized. They’re still a part of a long belief in America that the nation belongs to white Christians. If you’re not a white Christian, you have three choices.

1. You can assimilate, which means reject your own culture for a white Christian American one.

2. You can leave. Go back where you came from or where white Christian Americans think people like you belong.

3. You can die.

A nation that held people as property for hundreds of years, lynches them when they gain freedom from bondage and holds them in forced labor prisons for minor infractions isn’t concerned about justice or fairness or freedom. It’s concerned about upholding the same belief, that America is a white Christian nation and that all others find their way to fit, leave for where they belong or die.

We have two major political parties in this country.

One actively courts the votes of Patrick Crusius. It feeds his anger. It feeds his fear. He hungers for more. They serve it in abundance. They push to make America look like it did in 1959 or 1935 or some fantasy version of the past that never existed. Regressive and reactionary, they fight to preserve the rights of white Christian Americans by curtailing the rights of those who aren’t.

The other party seeks the few like Patrick Crusius who might defect. They pay lip service to others. They say they support others. They say they care about others. They say they think others have a right to exist.

But they don’t push. They approach with caution. They say Patrick Crusius is mis-understood. They say he’s isolated. They say he’s economically anxious. They say he’s feeling like a stranger in a strange land. They say he’s afraid. They say he’s struggling and that our embrace will help.

So, we’re left with a conundrum.

Republicans don’t want my vote. They don’t pretend to want my vote. They use me as an example of what’s wrong with America in the hopes of getting people who hate me to vote. They outreach to me only to confuse and anger me in the hopes that I don’t vote at all.

Democrats want my vote. They depend on my vote. In fact, they take my vote for granted. They know I’ll vote for them. I have no choice. So, no outreach for me. No agenda for me. No policies for me. No hope for me.

We get “color blind policies” to help everyone in need. Even though poor white people’s lives don’t look like poor black people’s lives. Even though poor white people’s lives don’t look like poor Latino people’s lives. We get candidates who opposed integration. Who talk about having black and white children in the same school as an attack on the safety and security of white people. Who ask me to outreach to Republicans to make the case for them.

It’s easy to blame Donald Trump. He’s a vile, despicable man. He’s selfish. He’s angry. He’s stupid. He cares only about financial gain and personal power. His public proclamations make our country worse and increase the chances of even more domestic terrorism.

It’s easy to blame Mitch McConnell. He’s a vile, despicable man. He’s selfish. He’s angry. He’s calculated. He cares only about financial gain and personal power. His public proclamations make our country worse and increase the chances of even more domestic terrorism.

It’s easy to blame Fox News. It’s a vile, despicable network. They’re calculated. They care only about financial gain. Their programming makes our country worse and increases the chances of even more domestic terrorism.

But they don’t vote for themselves. Fox News has viewers. American people chose them. If I’m blaming Mitch McConnell, I’m blaming the people of Kentucky who pulled the lever on his behalf. I’m blaming the Republicans nation-wide who chose their local Republican making them the majority in the Senate and giving McConnell a powerful position. If I’m blaming Donald Trump, I’m blaming those who voted for him giving him an Electoral College win in 2016 and a strong position to win again in 2020. If I’m blaming Fox News I’m blaming the 3MM people watching every night. These people are getting what they wanted. They’re getting what was promised.

But what about Nancy Pelosi? What about Joe Biden? What about Chuck Schumer? What about Barack Obama?

What about these Democratic leaders who work so diligently to reach out to the same voters who chose the vile, despicable people mentioned above while taking me for granted?

What about these Democratic leaders who beg me not to lose faith when they do nothing to help me keep it?

What about these Democratic leaders who pass “message bills” that support a vast array of exciting opportunities only when they know the opposition won’t support it?

What choices are left for me?

· Do I vote for a Republican party that doesn’t care about me, doesn’t work for me and doesn’t want me?

· Do I vote for a Democratic party that doesn’t care about me, doesn’t’ work for me and does want me?

· Do I not vote at all, helping the Republican party succeed?

Others are going to shout about gun control today, a battle that was lost with 20 dead six and seven-year-olds in Newtown, Connecticut.

Others are going to shout about Donald Trump, who doesn’t care and won’t change.

I’m shouting about Democrats.

I’m saying that right now, when white Christian extremists are murdering people in droves, that we need to take swift, severe and serious action toward this administration and the people who support it. I’m saying that I’m fucking tired of you blaming Republicans for gumming up the system or blocking your great agenda instead of you fighting, kicking and screaming, for what we all know is right.

· Offer statehood to Puerto Rico, an island with more people than Iowa, Mississippi, Arkansas and 18 others states but no US Senator.

· Offer statehood to the District of Columbia, a city with more people than Vermont or Wyoming but no US Senator.

· Stop doing budget deals and holding infrastructure sessions with this administration. Are they a legitimate governing body or are they white Christian Supremacists guiding the nation toward ruin? If they’re the latter why are you meeting them halfway?

· Stop offering candidates who yearn to bridge the gap between people who think I have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and those who think I belong in a cage or the ground.

· Offer integration programs for schools to help eliminate the benefits of housing segregation and property tax school funding.

· Offer real, meaningful programs to ensure progress for non-white people in this country based on the unique circumstances of their existence.

· Impeach the President. (Impeach meaning to investigate publicly and then hold a vote, the bare minimum one should expect)

I don’t want any handholding. I don’t want any patience. I don’t want any half measures. I want aggressive, bold action to fight for me and mine.

White Christians have a party that fights to the bitter end for them. Why can’t I get the same thing?